Various types of mattress shields or covers have been employed in the past to provide varying but limited amounts of protection for a mattress. The original mattress cover was a single pad substantially the same size as the top of the mattress and was designed to protect the sleeper from protruding buttons on the mattress. These mattress pads provide no protection for the sides or ends of the mattress. In addition, the pads provide no protection on the edges of the underside of the mattress which is needed to prevent scuffing caused by tucking in the bedding. Furthermore, since the mattress pad merely lays on top of the mattress, it easily dislodges itself and therefore requires additional time and effort to readjust or reinstall the same each time the bed is made up.
In an effort to overcome some of the deficiencies of the mattress pad, mattress covers have been made which consist of a flat pad similar to a mattress pad and an additional strip or piece of thin fabric material around the outside edge of the pad in the form of a skirt. This additional skirt material is conventionally sewn to the mattress pad around the peripheral outside edge thereof and hangs down over the sides and ends of the mattress. A drawstring or elastic band around the hem of the skirt is also frequently used to provide a method of affixing the mattress cover to the mattress.
While the just described mattress cover is an improvement over the mattress pad, it is deficient for several reasons. It is more difficult and expensive to manufacture since it utilizes two different materials which must be sewn together. In addition, the seam where the two materials are sewn together is adjacent the top of the mattress. This causes an annoying projection on the top of the mattress. Furthermore, the useful life of these mattress covers are relatively short since the seams are easily split. Even further, these mattress covers provide little or no protection for the sides and ends of the mattress.
One piece contour bed sheets which rely on an elastic strip are known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,273,175; 2,162,755 and British Pat. No. 887,521. A similar contour bed sheet which lacks an elastic strip but attains elasticity by using a two-way stretch fabric is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,789,441. A quilted cover pad which overlies a mattress with a discrete waterproof layer therebetween is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,339,738.